Today’s power outages, often due to demands on the electrical grid during the sweltering days of summer, have most of us gritting our teeth while we wait for the AC and lights to return. In the early ’40s, a member of the Class of ’36 wrote of more sinister blackouts.

Writer and feminist activist Julie Zeilinger '15 is the founder and editor of TheFBomb.org and the author of two books, ;A Little F’d Up and College 101. Watch her share her story as part of Barnard's Student Speak series.